Tommy Bolin - In and Out of Deep Purple

by Laura Shenton

It started off so well. As Jon Lord enthused in the October 1975 issue of Melody Maker: 'Tommy can't be so bad for us with so many good ideas. All I can say is when you hear the album (Come Taste The Band) you'll change your mind. Whether you like the music or not, you'll have to realise that Deep Purple now have an excitement in their playing that they haven't had in a long time...'. Despite calls of 'we want Blackmore' when Deep Purple Mark four played live, there was so much more to American guitarist Tommy Bolin than being Ritchie Blackmore's replacement. As a result, the purpose of this long-overdue biography is to readdress the existing narrative of Tommy Bolin's legacy. As well as discussing objectively Tommy's time with Deep Purple, Laura Shenton offers an insight into his musical achievements in his own right outside of the band, which include two cult rock albums in Teaser and Private Eyes. He also had a stint in The James Gang and make numerous guest appearances, where his versatile and virtuosic skills as a guitarist were utilised, before his untimely death in 1976 at the shockingly young age of 25.

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2020

About the author

As an author, Laura Shenton is probably best known for her music non-fiction. In particular, Dance With The Devil – The Cozy Powell Story (Wymer Publishing) and Tommy Bolin – In and Out of Deep Purple (Sonicbond Publishing). She feels that preserving the legacies of musicians who have contributed something amazing to the field is imperative.

For readers who want to enjoy the ride of letting their mind get lost in a good story without having to commit to a lengthy read, then it might just be that Laura's fiction books could be your cup of tea. They are character-driven with a short and punchy narrative that gets to the point. They are all novellas or novelettes. Genres include gothic, fantasy, and adventure (mostly, but with a few diversions too).

And finally, Laura's children's books... They are simple, accessible and fun. A good choice for youngsters with a fertile imagination who are at the very start of their reading journey.

Reviews

[John Lyman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has the feel of something someone wrote as a project for a graduate class and the physical layout of the text and chapters does nothing to disprove my theory.

Although the author states that she wouldn’t discuss rumors or negative comments, especially about drugs, her bias/intent reduces the strength of the text. Not every bad thing ever said about TB was invalid.

I appreciate an author whose purpose is to dispel myths while arguing this with very personal beliefs, but it blows my mind when people say, especially in a BOOK, "I'm going to be honest", as she did on page 88. Does that mean that she’s being dishonest throughout the rest of the book? So dumb.

The same arguments are repeated multiple times, the exact same thing could’ve been said with 25% less words. Very few insights not found in "Touched By Magic".

[Art Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ms. Shenton’s book is a wonderful compilation of reviews and interviews (including my own) Tommy Bolin did during and after his tenure with Deep Purple, circa 1975 to 1976. The albums Teaser and Private Eyes are covered as well as honorable mentions of some of Tommy’s earlier works. She obviously put a lot of time and effort to gather all of this information, much of which is available on some of the better web sites devoted to Tommy Bolin and Deep Purple. There are no new interviews or stories to be found here. She does try put into light Tommy’s somewhat turbulent times the last 18 months of his life, but only through quotes and pieces of articles from other books and publications. She did miss out on some major works she could have included that would have made her book a bit more meatier had she reached out to some key Bolin historians who are very accessible. Overall, the book is a great quick desk reference for anyone who is a Tommy Bolin fan. Oh, the quotes used on pages 67 and 68 from the September 1976 issue of The Drummer newspaper are from my interview with Tommy Bolin. I don’t recall hearing from Ms. Shenton asking permission if she could use them, but that’s OK. You’re welcome! Art Connor 7/28/23